Consumer products such as cosmetics, personal care, and household products, as well as pharmaceutical and industrial products, employ ingredients that allow these products to form a film or coating on various substrates such as keratinous substrates (e.g., hair and skin), hard surfaces (e.g., wood and metal), and other non-keratinous substrates, (e.g., fabrics and articles). Those ingredients which help form a film or coating on the surface of a substrate may be chosen from a variety of raw materials such as waxes, polymers, resins and oils. At the same time, products which employ these ingredients are designed to impart certain desirable properties such as shine, water resistance, transfer resistance, scratch resistance, color and a glazed appearance to a surface.
In particular, waxes are highly desirable in cosmetics and personal care products in order to provide properties such as shine, smoothness, and slipperiness to various types of surfaces, as well as a protective coating against external factors such as exposure to water or moisture and physical rubbing. Also, hair styling products which contain one or more of the above-mentioned ingredients can be used to impart shape or style to the hair and/or to help maintain a particular hair style. These ingredients can also be used to provide a water-resistant film or coating on the hair, and also to help maintain the appearance and condition of hair upon exposure to extreme environmental conditions, for example, high or low humidity, which can cause the hair to become frizzy. In addition, these ingredients can provide structure and texture to the products and a certain feel and texture to the hair.
Nevertheless, consumers continuously seek new hair cosmetic and hair care products with improved performance and therefore, challenges still exist today in terms of optimizing or enhancing the performance of these ingredients in such products. For example, there are numerous hair styling/shaping products on the market such as temporary and permanent styling products. However, the effects of temporary styling products generally last for only a relatively short period of time. Thus, in order to re-shape or re-style the hair, the consumer has to either re-apply a hair styling product and/or wash the hair again followed by a new application of the product and restyling the hair. Permanent styling also has the drawback of having to treat the hair with permanent waving or straightening/relaxing chemical treatments which may damage the hair.
Moreover, the formulation of waxes, polymers, resins and oils in various galenic forms of hair cosmetic products such as sprays, foams, emulsions, gels, mousses, pastes and sticks may pose a challenge since some of these ingredients may not be easily introduced and/or dispersed into these galenic forms. In addition, the final formulas using these ingredients have to remain stable over time.
For example, waxes are traditionally employed in a paste or pomade but may not be easily formulated in a spray or foam product, particularly at a concentration that will be sufficient to impart the desirable attributes obtained from a wax ingredient. The type of wax may also affect the stability and dispersion of the wax particles in the formulation since wax particles could agglomerate. Certain waxes may also result in an undesirable rough texture and/or sticky and tacky feel of the product and/or to the treated substrate. In paste formulas, waxes are first melted and then blended with oils, plasticizers, clays and/or any other additives. In other words, formulating with waxes still poses a challenge with respect to optimizing the benefits that can be obtained from the wax or waxes themselves. Thus, there still exists a need to improve how ingredients such as waxes, polymers, resins and oils can be formulated into various galenic forms, and at the same time, deliver the benefits derived from these ingredients and enhance the performance of other ingredients.
Thus, various technologies directed towards the use of waxes, polymers, resins and oils have been developed. For example, shape memory polymers (SMPs) have been found to have the ability to change shape and therefore, provide certain materials made of such polymers with the ability to change their shapes or revert back to their original shape upon deformation, particularly, when an external stimuli such as heat or light is applied; SMPs may be used in packaging films, fabrics and medical devices (Marc Biehl and Andreas Lendlein (2007). Shape Memory Polymers, Materials Today. 10 (4), pp. 20-28). In the area of cosmetics and hair care, US20080311050 and US20070275020 teach the use of shape memory polymers in hair treatment compositions. However, SMPs are typically complex polymer systems which may pose challenges in synthesis procedures and formulation in terms of the choice of solvents and delivery/galenic form.
Other teachings, such as DE2810130, disclose applying a polyamide powder onto hair and heating the hair to bond the hair in a particular style; however, this reference does not teach that the hair can be re-styled or re-positioned and appears to be directed to wigs. WO8904653 and WO8901771 disclose the use of heat-activated hair styling compositions containing water-soluble polyethylene oxide polymers. EP1174113, US7998465 and US20120070391 are directed to the use of specific polymers, including thermofusible polymers, heat-expandable particles comprising certain polymers, and polysiloxanes and silanes. However, the use of polymers may still result in sticky formulas, may be difficult to formulate into a stable dispersion as a result of compatibility issues with surfactants, and do not necessarily provide a long lasting coat or film or the ability to easily re-style or re-position the hair without reapplying a product, for example.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,871,600, U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,316, JP2003012478, US20060292095 and US20060263438 teach the preparation of wax and oil dispersions in hair cosmetic compositions. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 7,871,600 teaches the use of a wax dispersion in a hair styling composition. However, said composition additionally requires a styling polymer and a relatively high amount of wax of from 30% to 45% by weight of the composition. U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,316 discloses fine wax dispersions containing wax, an amphoteric surfactant and a nonionic surfactant where the size of the wax particles is about 30 nm and the nonionic surfactant is directed towards a specific class, i.e., polyoxypropylene alkyl ethers. JP2003012478 teaches a hair composition with hair-remodelling properties comprising an oil soluble material, a nonionic surfactant and water; the oil soluble material contains fatty acid, higher alcohol and wax. US20060292095 and US20060263438 disclose dispersions of oil particles calibrated to specific sizes and shapes; these particles are for use in sunscreen and skin care compositions. Nevertheless, the preparation of wax and oil particle dispersions and formulating with these dispersions in various galenic forms may still pose challenges, particularly since there are a number of factors to consider when working with wax and oil particles such as size, shape, hardness and melting point. Another consideration is the challenge of finding a convenient and easy way of optimizing the benefits that are delivered to substrates treated with the compositions containing these dispersions. In particular, many challenges still exist, not only in effectively introducing ingredients into products used to style and shape hair, but also in creating products which provide several benefits to hair while having the appearance and texture that are desirable to the consumer.
Thus, the ability to provide hair styling/shaping products to help maintain the shape of hair or to re-position/re-style the hair without reapplication of product, to provide humidity resistance and impart other desirable properties to hair such as shine, conditioning, softness and combability as well while having good aesthetic features remain as additional areas for improvement, particularly in connection with the use of waxes in such products.